跳棋
tiào​qí

checkers

跳 tiào jump

Phonosemantic compound. 足 represents the meaning and 兆 represents the sound.

Components

足
足 Meaning component
zú foot
兆
兆 Sound component
zhào omen

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartdewlˤew jump

說文解字

《說文》：“跳，蹶也。从足，兆聲。一曰躍也。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

棋 qí chess

Phonosemantic compound. 木 represents the meaning and 其 represents the sound. Simplified form of 碁.

Components

木
木 Meaning component
mù tree
其
其 Sound component
qí its, his, (3p possessive)

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartgi[ɡ](r)əchess, board game
Zhengzhangɡɯ
Unicodeghiə

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica